Major sewage spill forces closures along Laguna coast
Roughly 250,000 gallons of raw sewage flowed onto streets and into the ocean. Four miles of beaches from Crescent Bay to Camel Point will be closed for at least two days, police said.
In what is being described by health officials as major spill, 250,000 gallons of raw sewage spilled into the street and the ocean this morning in Laguna Beach, prompting the closure of four miles of beaches.
Beaches roughly two miles north and south of the spill, from Crescent Bay to Camel Point, near Aliso Beach, will remain closed for at least two days, officials said.
City officials and county health authorities ordered the closure after being alerted about 2:30 a.m. of flooding at a pump station near Calliope and Glenneyre streets, about a block from Pacific Coast Highway, said Laguna Beach Police Department Sgt. Jason Kravetz.
City crews found effluent draining onto surrounding streets and discovered the source of the spill was a 12-inch pipe that had disconnected. They worked to drain the pump station and contain the spill, channeling the waste into a storm drain that flows into Bluebird Beach.
The pump station was back in operation by 10:10 a.m. today, but crews were continuing repairs, said Deanne Thompson, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Health Care Agency, which monitors ocean water quality.
The agency is conducting water sampling at 14 locations, she said. Beaches will remained closed until bacteria counts return to acceptable levels.
Though several streets were closed, Pacific Coast Highway remained open and officials stressed that there would be no significant traffic impact.
The last major spill in Orange County also occurred in Laguna Beach, where in April, 60,000 gallons of effluent flowed into the ocean after a sewage line broke.
Barboza is a Times staff writer.
tony.barboza@latimes.com
